Nova game thread

[muskieman]

Also add "Carter with the shot." He is a great kid and tries his damn best, but has had a big enough sample to show he doesn't have the goods to compete at a high level in the BE. He was one for four, missing three shots at the rim. He caught one pass in the post with Gillespie guarding him, and couldn't manage to shoot over him, and passed it out. Steele was very slow in recognizing Goodin was killing the team, and only an injury and public pressure forced him to make the change, and relegate him to the bench. One more is warranted.

hey if we want to call out people for missing shots, how was Freemantle's line today or because he is a freshman and other things he is exempt

Free played as poorly as Carter today.. However, for the year?

Carter: 28 min/6.8 pts/ 39% fg,/ 74% ft? 25% 3 pt. Freemantle : 18/7/49%/79%/43%. Carter is a better defender, but offense, especially today, was a much greater need. The play with Carter not scoring on the block with a 6'3" guard defending him tells you all you need to know. Also, Carter was abused by Samuels early in the game, when he yielded six early points. That and his two missed bunnies helped dig a hole X could not climb out of. I think both should play, but the benefactor of more minutes should be Kyky with a starting lineup of: Kyky, Scruggs, Marshall, Free/Carter, Jones.

I agree with Carter but in the past, we have seen a transfer take a year to become fruitful. The power forward spot this year hasn't always worked out and with more consistency from that spot X might have more success. 2 for 10 today with 6 rebounds, 3 Turnovers, and no Free Throw attempt show the weakness. Nova's forward had 23 points and 22 rebounds!

[Anti-Homer]

hey if we want to call out people for missing shots, how was Freemantle's line today or because he is a freshman and other things he is exempt

Free played as poorly as Carter today.. However, for the year?

Carter: 28 min/6.8 pts/ 39% fg,/ 74% ft? 25% 3 pt. Freemantle : 18/7/49%/79%/43%. Carter is a better defender, but offense, especially today, was a much greater need. The play with Carter not scoring on the block with a 6'3" guard defending him tells you all you need to know. Also, Carter was abused by Samuels early in the game, when he yielded six early points. That and his two missed bunnies helped dig a hole X could not climb out of. I think both should play, but the benefactor of more minutes should be Kyky with a starting lineup of: Kyky, Scruggs, Marshall, Free/Carter, Jones.

I agree with Carter but in the past, we have seen a transfer take a year to become fruitful. The power forward spot this year hasn't always worked out and with more consistency from that spot X might have more success. 2 for 10 today with 6 rebounds, 3 Turnovers, and no Free Throw attempt show the weakness. Nova's forward had 23 points and 22 rebounds!

I was as high on Carter as anyone when he came in, and still feel like he can be a contributor. I think he is the most underrated defender on the team, as he can guard 3-5. Missing the kind of shots he's missing tells me it isn't a lack of skill, but confidence. In this lineup, X can ill afford guys who are not a positive on the offensive end. If X had three good perimeter shooters, or consistent offensive "creators,"his deficits wouldn't be as glaring.

If Wilcher shoots as well as advertised, and X gets a good shooting grad transfer wing (along with good shooters in Tandy and Free), I think he'll be fine. Team composition determines success of a lot of players. Goodin is Exhibit A. He looked like a future 1st team BE pg in his freshman and sophomore years. Not so coincidentally, he had guys named Macura, Bluiett, Reynolds, Gates, and others on the team. When you have to be more than a role player, it pushes the limits beyond the skill set of some players. Unfortunately, it caught up with Q the last two years. The jury is still out on Carter.

[Michigan Musketeer]

Carter & Freemantle better step it up in the final (4) games or we are in trouble. Butler better than their record will be a tough game as the home court not much of advantage with this team. Too bad Hankins didn’t have another Yr-a lot more offense than Carter. When are we going to get some shooters. 5-20 to start the game horrible especially at home. Another missed opportunity for a quality win.

[joeabe]

I have been watching every game closely. My findings: Tough as hell conference, a team with not so great ball skills, not so great shooting skills, terrible foul shooting. On the flip: good attitude, good rebounding ,freshmen coming on, #4 playing as good as he can. I really have a deep concern for the future of our program competing in the Big East. I am concerned for our current freshman class as well as whats coming in next year? Nova's freshmen playing today are game changers!!! I think if we continue trending the way we are we will be a real competitive "middle of the road" team in our conference for future years. I just hope the Cintas fans have patience to hang in and support our team. I am concerned if they don't our coach will have a real difficult time succeeding....he's already in a tough spot!! I can hear coach's on the recruiting trail saying....If Xavier continues losing TS is gone and if Xavier wins he's gone in several years to a better job like all the others before him....Do you want to go there?

[thecoach]

They're very similar to last year in my view. Different places, frosh contributed more, transfers contributed less. Of the core 4, Jones is more assertive and knows to focus on what he's good at, but it's somewhat offset by the inconsistencies of the other 3. For me, i thought Scruggs would be more consistent offensively, but for whatever reason(s) some nights he's just not there. There's still time to make a run, but the offensive challenges are not consistent with getting hot. We were fortunate to win that Sj game, but right now it's big in my mind because if they had lost it, we'd likely be gonzo.

[muskieman]

They're very similar to last year in my view. Different places, frosh contributed more, transfers contributed less. Of the core 4, Jones is more assertive and knows to focus on what he's good at, but it's somewhat offset by the inconsistencies of the other 3. For me, i thought Scruggs would be more consistent offensively, but for whatever reason(s) some nights he's just not there. There's still time to make a run, but the offensive challenges are not consistent with getting hot. We were fortunate to win that Sj game, but right now it's big in my mind because if they had lost it, we'd likely be gonzo.

even some of the best players are inconsistent in a game or more during a season. I remember Tre having off nights. Look at Collin Gillespie yesterday leading scorer and has only 4 points.

[skyhops]

The problem is that the current players are way to inconsistent and never have good games at the same tine. I’ll take an off day from Tre any day, which would mean he would only score 16. Scruggs has been MIA and Carter, Free, and Q have been providing little to nothing. Attended the game with two astute basketball fans that hadn’t seen X much this year and couldn’t believe how slow and bad our offense played. It’s a problem

[ChitownSteve]

even some of the best players are inconsistent in a game or more during a season. I remember Tre having off nights. Look at Collin Gillespie yesterday leading scorer and has only 4 points.

When assigned, Naji did do a nice job in guarding Gillespie.

[olsingledigit]

Remember that James Posey, one of X’s greats, did not start until his senior year. He was better coming off the bench by getting a feel for the game flow first. I think Carter might be better coming off the bench for the same reason.

[thecoach]

The problem is that the current players are way to inconsistent and never have good games at the same tine. I’ll take an off day from Tre any day, which would mean he would only score 16. Scruggs has been MIA and Carter, Free, and Q have been providing little to nothing. Attended the game with two astute basketball fans that hadn’t seen X much this year and couldn’t believe how slow and bad our offense played. It’s a problem

I think Scruggs is the type of player who is best playing in a a more up tempo offense that's built around volume shot attempts. More up and down and less half court oriented. Similar to what SJ's plays. He's a guy you have to "get" going, and in the games he doesn't get to double digits it seems like he doesn't take many shots. It's not exclusive, but he's one of those kids that has to keep shooting the ball. Some offenses are more built around up and down bball and less feed the post halfcourt sets. That's inconsistent with what you're trying to do with Jones. They need him to provide more offense if they're going to get over the hump. Can't beat Nova with him scoring 10 pts.